Scattered Hither And Yon

/ Ally Bean

“God is in the details.” ~ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

I’m an organized person, but I am not a tidy person.  There is a difference.  The reality is that I know what I need to do to make things look tidy– and when my heart is in it, I can get things looking pretty darned spiffy.  If I do say so myself.

However, this past weekend when I attempted to get some of the more {how shall I say this?} egregious messes in our house under control, the Fates were not on my side.

•  For instance, I knew what I needed to make the bookshelves in the TV room look great.  But the shelves are so shallow that almost no baskets or photo file boxes or office-style charging stations now available will fit on them.  Except for one lovely wooden desktop organizer from Ballard Designs… that isn’t available for shipping until April.

*growl*

•  In the bathroom I had a very cute idea, gleaned from Pinterest, about how to make my make-up and other stuff look organized… but I need a tray of a specific size to make it happen.

So I tried Hobby Lobby, Meijer, Pottery Barn, Ikea, Crate & Barrel, Kroger, Kohl’s, Tuesday Morning & who knows how many places online. And here’s what I learned: that size of tray doesn’t seem to exist, rather like a unicorn.

*humph*

•  Meanwhile in the un-bedroom, the project stalled over the size, style and cost of the frames I need to create a gallery wall behind the chairs.  The beautiful floral drapes from Pottery Barn dictate the color scheme in that room.

But now I can’t find any images to put into the theoretical, yet-to-be purchased frames that won’t fight with the drapes, while gracing the wall behind the stylish and comfy chairs… that we bought at Crate & Barrel just last winter.

*loud sigh*

•  And then there is my perennially not-so-tidy desk in our home office… where I shuffle little pieces of paper and catalogues and pens and file cards all over the place.  Never quite sure what to do with all the notes I make.  Never quite able to file things properly in file cabinets or in computer files. Always aware that my way of organizing, such as it is, would give Leo Babauta nightmares & David Allen fits.

*oh well*

All of which brings me to the following conclusions:

  1. Decorating a home is much more difficult than I once believed– and makes me understand why so many people don’t even try;
  2. I do not enjoy the process of making a house pretty, but know, from experience, that I will love living in it after it’s all finished;  and
  3. That when this home redecorating project is over I might never, ever change another thing in this house again.  Ever.


14 thoughts on “Scattered Hither And Yon”

  1. Ahh, it’s nice to know that there is someone else like me out in the world. I have a room that sits empty since last September just waiting on me to make my mark on it. I bought paint in October. I will now need to take it back to Lowe’s to get re-mixed. I will get it done. Someday soon. There’s hope for us!

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    • Cheri, every home decorating project that I tackle seems to get stuck on something that is out of my control. So I move on to the next project only to be thwarted again. All this trying and no succeeding is driving me just a little bit crazy.

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  2. Re: un-bedroom project

    Think eclectic and black. Black goes with everything. So does a simple frame design. It won’t matter what you put inside the frame if all the frames are black.

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    • philosophermouse, good point. We are trying to build a place, a refuge, a dwelling that makes us feel whole. It’s just that I get so impatient with the process. I want it now… which clearly isn’t happening.

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  4. It is refreshing to hear that you have some of the same issues that I do. I have baskets in all my bathrooms for “junk” storage. It mostly works. I change very little once I find something I like because it leads to all sorts of other items not looking right. For example, when we got a new love seat some years ago, the pillows looked hideous, so I needed to shop for more of those. When the flooring in the kitchen was replaced, the floral seat cushions were a no-go. I looked all over for sage green and finally found them, in a place I least expected to. I spend lots of time and frustration doing so!

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  5. Pingback: Tidy vs. Anal | Naples Girl Blog

  6. I agree with philosophermouse that finding those unique treasures takes time – and probably happens when you least expect it. I’d consider looking in places you might not expect to find them like garage sales, estate sales or flea markets. You might find the perfect item that you weren’t looking for.

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